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G. THORP.

(No Model.)

VISB.

1Y0-392,378. Patented Nov. 6, 1888.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

GEORGE THORP, OF PORTSMOUTH, MICHIGAN.

VISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,378, dated November 6, 1888.

Application filed March 8, 1888.

To all whom it may concer-72,.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE THonr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portsmouth, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain newand useful Improvements'in Vises; and I do declare the followingto be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in vises, and more particularly to that class of vises in which the nut,or the device retaining the nut in rigid position, may be disengaged from its clutch or holding contact, and thereby permit the movable jaw of the vise to freely pass in either direction in order-to adapt the opening betweenthe jaws to pieces of various sizes more quickly than by the more common method of turning the screw to effect the change in the said opening; and the present invention pertains particularly to devices for retaining the nut in position or for releasing the same at the will of the operator,

The invention consists in the combination, construction, and arrangement of the several devices which are assembled together for the purpose of attaining the result set forth, and which are hereinafter more fully described, and specically pointed out in the claims; and the objects of my invention are to provide devices whereby the jaws of a vise may be more easily and quickly opened or closed than by the devicesin common use for that purpose, and whereby the manipulation of thescrewlever only attains the desired result, so that one hand only need be used to perform the operation of quickly expanding or contracting the space between the jaws of the vise.

Another object of the said invention is to lprovide a vise with a means of disengaging the nut from its holding contact, which shall be cheaply and easily constructed and effective in its operation,and which will provide the said n ut with a sustaining-support upon eachside of the screw, so that the nut will be submitted tolan even and true pulling strain by the screw, whereby the cramping or twisting strain which obtains when the nut is sup- Serial No. 266,589. (No model.)

ported upon one side only is avoided and the working parts of the device rendered more durable and lasting.

I attain the aforesaid objects by means of the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a vise containing my improvements. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same, taken at as w in Fig. l, 'and shows the holding devices for the nut in adisengaged position. Fig. 3 isthe same with the retaining devices in engagement and holding the nut rigidly in position. Fig. 4L is a plan view of the inner end of the movable arm and of the pieces retaining the nut in position. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the rigid jaw and arm and shows the ratchet inside of the arm. Fig. 6 is aside view of one ofthe pieces retaining the nut in position.

The same letters designate similar parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

a represents the rigid or stationary jaw of a vise, and is provided with an arm, b, through Awhich is arranged a longitudinal opening, c,

and which is secured in any convenient manner` to the bench d. The inner vertical sides of the said opening c are provided witl; ratchetteeth, as e, and within the opening c is placed a hollow arm, f, having upon its outer'end a jaw, g, which extends upwardly to meet and oppose the jaw a.

' h is a shaft passed longitudinally through the opening in the hollow arm f, and is provided upon its outer end with a collar, i, and a screw-lever,j, and is also provided for a short distance upon its inner end with a screwthread, as 7c, and a collar, Z, is passed upon the shaft hand firmly secured in position inside of and against the portion m, which partially closes the outer end of the hollow arm f, leaving a central opening, however, for the shaft, and operates, together with the collar Z, to prevent the shaft from withdrawing from the arm and to support the shaft centrally within the hollow arm.

n is a nut provided with a central opening and passed upon the threaded end 7c of the shaft h, and is arranged so that its front end forms the square shoulders o, and upon the lateral sides ofthe said nut are placed the retaining-pieces p. These pieces p are pivotally se- IOO cured near their front ends, at q, to the sides of the nut i1, and are provided on their front ends with the portions r, projecting inwardly and forming shoulders, against which rest the shoulders n of the nut, and are also provided upon the rear portions of their outer sides with the ratehetteeth s, so arranged as to engage with the teeth e, or to close toward the said nut and pass the Said teeth c without engaging' therewith, as desired. The rear ends of the pieces p are provided with the portions l, projecting inwardly toward each other, and upon the frontedgesofthese projections are arranged the inclines it. The lateral sides oi' the rear ends of the hollow arnif are removed,and the upper side, a, thereof is left to extend rearward over the nut, as is also the lower bottom portion, b', thereof, beneath the uut. A portion of the lateral sides of the rear ends of these portions c and L' are removed, forming the inclined sides e', facing outwardly and rearwardlyand adapted to engage with the inclined portions u of the pieces p and crowd the pieces p outwardly when the screw-shaft h is revolved for closing the jaws a and g toward each other.

c' is a collarplaeed upon the rear end ofthe screw-shaft and in such a position that when the nut is moved rearward and closed against the collar c' the teeth s on the retaining-pieces p will. be entirely disengaged from contact with the ratchet-teeth e, which leaves the arm f I'rec to be moved in either direction, as desired.

d is a spring placed within the hollow arm and is arranged to bear outwardly against the front ends of the pieces p and hold the rear ends of the piecesp against the lateral sides of the port-ions a and Ii', and, when the proper position is reached, to close the said pieces over the inclines c.

lhe operation of the device is as follows: lhe parts being placed in position, as shown in Figs. land 2, with the inelines n against the inelines e', the ratehetteeth sare free from engagement with the teeth c and the arm f, and jaw y] is .free to be moved outwardly or inwardly, as desired, and, the desired position of the jaw y being reached, the shaft h is revolved for closing the jaws together, which action moves the nut n toward the front and forces the pieces p outwardly by the action of the inclines il and e until the ratchet-teeth eengage with each other, and then the arm f and jaw y move toward the rear, and when the said incliues it and e pass. each other the ratchet-teeth s and c areI in full engagement and are retained in that position by the lat eral or parallel sides d and e of the portions a and b, which engage with the inner edges of the projecting portions l and allow the arm f to move inward to some distance, and the operation ofthe parts, when in this position, is the same as the operation of an ordinary vise, the nut being retained rigidly in position so long as the portions 't engage with the said parallel sides.

Tn order to release the retaining-pieces p from engagement with the ratehets e, the screw: shaft h is revolved for moving the armf outwardly until the inclines 1l and c' pass over each other, and the spring d then operates to close the retaining-pieces); toward each other until the teeth s are freed from engagement with the teeth e, which bring the collar c in contact with the rear end ofthe nut and stops the rotation of the screw-shaft, and the arm is then free to be moved in either direction.

3y means of the arrangement of the parts as described an exceedingly durable and convenient device is produced, as the construction of the retaining-pieces and the ratchets is such as to obtain the most rigid and firm support for the nut upon all its sides, which avoids any cramping or twisting of the nut upon the screwwhich obtains by drawing from one side only, and allows the movable jaw to be quickly and easily changed to permit pieces of greatlydiffering sizes to be placed between the jaws, and avoids the slow process in common use of changing the space between the jaws by turning the screw.

Anotherand prominent featureofthis device is its cost of manufacture, which is slightly in excess of an ordinary vise, the working parts being few and not at all liable to get out oforder, and their strength and durability are by their peculiar construction and arrangement rendered as great as, if they do not exceed, that of an ordinary vise; and it is very evident that by the use of the detachable retaining devices for the nut, as herein set forth, a very great saving of time is obtaincd,and the trouble and annoyance of manipulating the screw for moving the jaw outwardly or inwardly to a great distance are avoided.

llaving described myinvcntion, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-` 1. ln a vise, the combination, with the stationary jaw provided with a longitudinal opening, the ratchets e upon the lateral sides ofthe said opening, the hollow arm h, passed into the said longitudinal opening and provided ou its rear end with the extended upper portion,a,and lower portion,b, having the in elines u, the scrcwshaft passed through the arm 7/y and provided with a screw-thread, 7u, and the nut -n upon the screw, of the retainingpieces p, pivolall y secured to the lateral sides of the said nut and provided with the ratchetteeth s, engaging with the said ratehets e, and having the inwardly-proj ecting portions t,provided with the inelines c', engaging with the said inclinesu, and. the collar c', upon the rear end of the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a vise, the combination, with ajaw, (t, having the arm b, provided with a longitudinal opening, n, the ratehets e upon the lateral sides of the said opening, the movable jaw g, provided with the hollow arm f, having on its rear end the inclines it, the shaft 7L, passed into the arm j and provided with a screw-threaded end, ,and thenu ta upon the end and provided IOO llO

IIS

with the Vshoulders o, of the retaining-pieces rear ends of the said pieeesp toward each other7 p, pivoted to the lateral sides of the said nut substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 1o and provided upon their outer sides with the In testimony whereof I affix iny signature 1n teeth s, and having on their front ends the inpresence of two Witnesses.

5 Wardly-projecting portions r, engaging with GEORGE THORP.

the said shoulders o, and on the rear ends the Vitnesses:

inwardly-projecting portions t, provided with JAS. E. THOMAS, the inclines o, and the spring for moving the V. H. POWER. 

